Innovations

SITA upgrades AirportHubTM to include internet and wireless connectivity at existing airport sites.

Airports are the center of the industry’s communications and are becoming ever more connected. By 2030, 18,000 airline communication connections will be needed at the world’s airports.

The number and size of airports is also rising; 500 new airports – a 30% increase over today – and a 40% capacity growth in existing airports. The challenge the industry faces with this expansion is having reliable, secure, high performance communications – consistently across the world’s airports – for airlines, ground handlers, maintenance companies, other airport tenants and the airports themselves.

SITA is meeting this demand by rolling out AirportHubTM – its shared communications platform – to a growing number of airports. Today SITA has implemented AirportHubTM at more than 400 airports in more than 100 countries spanning the globe from Anchorage to Auckland.

700 airports by 2020

“We are firmly on target to roll-out AirportHub™ at 700 airports ensuring that we provide connectivity that covers at least 80% of all international destinations globally,” says Gilles Bloch-Morhange, Head of Communications Platforms at SITA.

SITA AirportHubTM is an airport-wide shared connectivity platform that ensures airports can provide their airlines, ground handlers and other tenants with secure and reliable bandwidth, including wireless connectivity to access off-airport applications.

AirportHubTM makes it easier than ever before for airlines to connect all their applications and IT systems at an airport quickly and easily. It removes the complexity of dealing with local telecom providers and adds flexibility and agility to route management.

Upgraded connectivity

“It is not just that we are implementing AirportHubTM in airports, we are also upgrading the service in existing airports to incorporate greater internet connectivity into AirportHubTM. This is really aimed at ensuring that the service we provide is equipped to meet the changing demands of airlines and airports and that we remain a step ahead of their requirements,” says Bloch-Morhange.

“We have also deployed a new service called CommunityConnect Internet, allowing SITA to offer internet connectivity over AirportHubTM for both CUTE and back office requirements as well as extended AirportHubTM wireless service to more sites, which allows for Gatelink services for next-generation aircraft,” says Bloch-Morhange.

Looking a little further into the future, SITA is working on creating the next-generation AirportHubTM leveraging SD-WAN/SDN and network virtualization technologies to further enable more reliable and flexible services for our customers.

“AirportHubTM is really about providing airlines with reliable, fast connectivity that is cost-effective and available no matter where they chose to fly. With 400 airports in the network we are edging closer to achieving that.”